The Barnes & Conti Bookshelf

Self-Navigation: A Compass for Guiding Your Life and Career

The act of self-navigation is a critical capability. It requires that you stay engaged and focused on your goal, while steering through the continuous “whitewater” of twenty-first century life. You can’t do it while on autopilot; your virtual GPS will only work if it is set to a destination that you have carefully chosen.

Hands-on navigation, with your eye on the compass in the midst of change and ambiguity, has become essential for success. Every decision about major issues—your education, your career, your relationships, your family life, where you choose to travel or to live—is an act of navigation that will influence the course of your entire life.

In this book, you will learn how to set and follow a course that will take you as far as you want in a direction that you are capable of going. Using a “personal compass,” you will understand and work with the deep values and authentic motivations that drive you while recognizing and overcoming the internal and external obstacles on your way. You will devise a practical plan to accomplish the results you dream of achieving. Whether working alone or with a coach, this book will help you become the captain of your life and career.

Self-navigation—keeping one’s eye on the “compass” in the midst of change and ambiguity—is based on a model that is used by multinational companies and leaders to help them navigate their careers, their teams, and their organizations through the complexities of the current business environment. Navigation skills can make anyone’s life more exciting, satisfying, and productive.

About the Authors

B. Kim Barnes B. Kim Barnes is CEO of Barnes & Conti Associates, Inc., of Berkeley, California, a leadership development firm. In more than 30 years of experience in the fields of management, leadership, and organization development, she has been a frequent speaker at national and international professional conferences and meetings. Kim is the primary or co-developer of Barnes & Conti’s programs on influence, negotiation, innovation management, internal consulting, and many other topics. The second edition of her book, Exercising Influence: A Guide for Making Things Happen at Work, at Home, and in Your Community, was published by Wiley in 2007. A recent business book, co-authored with Beverly Scott, is Consulting on the Inside: A Practical Guide for Internal Consultants, published in 2011 by ASTD Press. After completing this book, Kim was inspired to write a tongue-in-cheek corporate mystery series. The first book, Murder on the 33rd Floor, was published in early 2012.